Drugs without the hot air: Making Sense of Legal and Illegal Drugs

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I would have even accepted a book that taught me a lot about the history, or that gave me a lot of anecdotal accounts that weaved stories both from the regulatory and user side of things. David Nutt is a psychiatrist, the Edmund J Safra Professor of Neuropsychopharmacology in Imperial College London and chair of DrugScience. There's an inherent danger in any sector of education: if the teachings fail to measure up to the truth, then we'll be paving the way for a deep distrust and a greater apathy. He mentions that 7% of heroin users first tried heroin in prison whereas in the Netherlands, where cannabis use is decriminalised, heroin use is among the lowest in Europe. It also covers the basics of how different drugs work (eg by blocking receptors in the brain), what the real-life effects are and how they evolved.

No prior knowledge of the subject is assumed, and a well motivated teenager should be able to read it without difficulty. I was startled to learn that about 500 people a year die of heroin overdoses after coming out of prison because, having stopped or reduced their use while inside, they have lost the tolerance they used to have.

But, if you've ever wondered why so many senior police officers and politicians have a complete change of heart once they are out of office, then you might find an explanation in these pages. From Mexico to Uruguay, governments are debating liberalizing drug laws and even setting up regulated, legal markets. It was my deep knowledge of the harms of alcohol that eventually got me sacked by the UK government.

One cup of double-shot coffee will keep me awake, alert, and wired for at least 18 hours, even after inadequate sleep, whether I like it or not. Nutt is an expert at the cutting edge of his field so for anybody that has a some sort of opinion on drugs and prohibition laws I would say that this is pretty much necessary reading. An actual expert scientific investigation of alcohol/drugs and drug policy without a bunch of misleading morality-based bullshit.For example, when ecstasy took off as a club drug, some venues started selling bottled water and providing “chill-out rooms” where patrons could cool off and hydrate. The only drug I use is coffee and my ridiculous hypersensitivity to caffeine suggests that any stronger stimulant would kill me immediately. I replied yes, that’s exactly what I’m saying, it’s there in my 2007 Lancet paper, which at the time was reported on the front page of two of the leading UK newspapers – the Independent and the Guardian – so it was hardly a secret. In that one hour's discussion, I'd found that my attitude towards drug laws had changed significantly from supporting the current emphasis of strong prosecution and imprisonment, to the recognition that if drug abuse was thought of as purely a health issue, the world could be a much better place. After all, even if you’ve not given it much thought before, it stands to reason that a prison sentence and criminal record will do more harm to an individual’s life and prospects than the physical effects of, say, cannabis.